Dust guard seal for railway car journal boxes



Feb. 10, 1970 T. J. SWEGER 3,494,625

DUST GUARD SEAL FOR RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOXES Filed Nov. 14, 1967 6Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 10, 1970 T. J.-SWEGER 9 DUST GUARD SEAL FOR RAILWAYCAR JOURNAL BOXES 7 Filed Nov. 14, 1967 s Sheets-Sheet 2 a e I w 5 A MHWWWWWWWWWWWHW H $1 $2 MHHHHHPHHuuhfi H DUST GUARD SEAL FOR RAILWAY cARJOURNAL Roms w T. J. SWEGER Feb. 10, 1970 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov.14, 196'? Feb. 10, 1970 "r. J. SWEGER DUST GUARD SEAL FOR RAILWAYCAR'JOURNAL'BOXES Filed Nov. 14, 1967 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 w 4 Mm $7 w/ 7we,

Feb. 10, 1970 T. J. SWEGER 3,494,525

DUST GUARD SEAL FOR RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOXES Filed Nov. 14, 1967 6Sheets-Sheet 5 Z ./5 A35 A747 6 /16 49 Feb. 10, 19 70 T. J. SWEGER3,494,625 A DUST GUARD SEAL FOR RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOXES v Filed Nov.14. 1967 A 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 United States Patent 3,494,625 DUST GUARDSEAL FOR RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOXES Theodore J. Sweger, Naperville, Ill.,assignor to Illinois Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, 11]., acorporation of Illinois Continuation-impart of applications Ser. No.529,131, Feb. 21, 1966, and Ser. No. 571,587, Aug. 10, 1966. Thisapplication Nov. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 682,868

Int. Cl. F16j 15/32, 15/54 US. Cl. 277132 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Dust guard for railway car journal box having sealing lipsone of which is offset from the body portion in dust guard well andshifts from initial position to running position after insertion of theaxle. The dust guard includes major and minor sealing lips withlubricant containing grooves therebetween. A backup rib overlies thedistal portion of one of the lips to hold it in place. A reenforcingmember extends along the body portion of the dust guard. Openings in thereenforcing member receive portions of the dust guard to provide anintegral bond thereto. One of the lips is notched to facilitate flow oflubricant into the space between the lips.

This invention is an improvement over the construction shown in US.Patent No. 3,353,831, issued Nov. 21, 1967. This application is acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 529,131, filed Feb. 21,1966 now abandoned and of application Ser. No. 571,587, filed Aug. 10,1966 now abandoned.

Among the objects of this invention are: To provide an improved seal forthe seat of a railway car axle to prevent entrance of foreign particlesinto the lubricant containing journal box and between the axle journaland the bearing therefor; to form the seal of one piece construction andof flexible material having the outer portion extending from a bodyportion arranged to engage frictionally the juxtaposed walls of the dustguard well and the inner portion having inwardly extending lips forengaging the seat of the car axle and arranged in normal operation toextend in opposite directions therealong; to backup the inner lip on theside of the dust guard adjacent the axle journal by a rib overlying thisinner lip under normal operating conditions; to construct the inner lipsuch that it collects lubricant from the surface of the seat and causesit to flow to the space between the lips and between them and the seat;to reenforce the dust guard by a tension member extending therethroughand around the inwardly extending lips; to form the dust guard and oilseal of one piece flexible rubberlike material with a major sealing lipoffset to the wheel side of the axle from a radial web portion to engagea seat on the axle and a minor sealing lip offset to the journal side ofthe axle from the web portion also to engage the seat; to provide largeand small cross section grooves along the major and minor sealing lipsto retain lubricant that flows through notches in the minor sealing lipfrom the journal box and over the seat; to form a peripheral portionintegrally with the web having laterally extending longitudinally ribbedsurfaces for frictionally gripping the juxtaposed side walls of the dustguard well in the journal box; to stiffen the dust guard and oil sealagainst non uniform movement, particularly movement transverse to theaxis of rotation of the axle; to mount a channel shaped stiffening ringon the web by plug and socket means; to form plug means integral withthe web for insertion in the socket means in the ring in the form ofopenings in the web thereof; and to provide a single lip on the icewheel side of the dust guard which is arranged, on application of theaxle to the journal box, to have its distal edge turned underneath itssupporting web and on rotation of the axle to right itself and extendtoward the wheel while engaging the seat on the axle.

In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken generallyalong the line 1-1 of FIG. 2 and showing a portion of a railway car axleand the associated dust guard well. FIG. 2 is a view, partly in endelevation and partly in section, taken generally along the line 22 ofFIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along theline 3-3 of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a view, similar to FIG. 3, showing theinstallation of the dust guard of the present invention in the dustguard well before the railway car axle is inserted. FIG. 5 is a view, inside elevation, taken generally along the line 55 of FIG. 4 showing aportion of the dust guard. FIG. 6 is a view, similar to the left portionof FIG. 1, showing how the rear or outer lip is folded over on insertionof the railway car axle and before it has had an opportunity to rightitself. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a modified form of this inventiontaken generally along the line 77 of FIG. 8 and shows the dust guardwell of a railway car journal box, partly in half cross section and theremainder in elevation with a railway car axle therein and surrounded bya dust guard and oil seal embodying this invention. FIG. 8 is a view,partly in horizontal section aind partly in top plan, and takengenerally along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a vertical sectionalview taken generally along the line 99 of FIG. 7. FIG. 10 is a view,similar to FIG. 9, and shows the dust guard and oil seal with therailway car axle absent. FIG. 11 is a view of a portion of the dustguard and oil seal looking from the wheel side. FIG. 12 is a top planview of the construction shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 13 is a verticalsectional view taken generally along the line 13-13 of FIG. 11. FIG. 14is a view, at an enlarged scale, of the upper portion of the dust guardand oil seal as shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 15 is a view, similar to FIG. 14,of the lower portion of the dust guard and oil seal. FIG. 16 is a view,in side elevation, of the dust guard and oil seal looking from the axleside. FIG. 17 is a view, in side elevation, of the annular stiffeningmember. FIG. 18 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along theline 18-18 of FIG. 17 and at an enlarged scale. FIG. 19 is anelevational view from the wheel side of the axle of a portion of afurther modification of the dust guard embodying this invention. FIG. 20is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 20-20 ofFIG. 19. FIGS. 21 and 22 are detail vertical sectional views takengenerally along lines 2121 and 2222 respectively of FIG. 19. FIG. 23 isan elevational view of a portion of the reenforcing ring or stiffenershown in assembled relation in FIGS. 1922. FIG. 24 is a view, similar toFIG. 6, showing how the sealing lip is folded over on insertion of theaxle and before it has righted itself on subsequent rotation of the axleseat. FIG. 25 is a top plan of FIG. 19.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, the reference character 10 designates,generally, a railway car axle of conventional construction having a seat11 and an axle journal 12 with a corner journal fillet 13 therebetween.The axle journal 12 is arranged to extend into a journal box, a portionof which is indicated, generally, at 14 and also is of conventionalconstruction. The journal box 14 has an outstanding section 15 in whichthere is located a dust guard well 16 having parallel faces 17.

Located in the dust guard well 16 is a dust guard, shown generally at20, embodying this invention. The dust guard 20 preferably is of onepiece construction and formed of molded elastomeric compound such as anitrile elastomer. The dust guard 20 has an annular body portion 21 inwhich a reenforcing tension member 22 in the form of a steel wire ringis embedded. Formed integrally with the body portion 21 are outer andinner annular flange means 23 and 24 which are arranged to havefrictional contact engagement with the parallel faces of the dust guardwell 16.

The purpose of the dust guard 20 is to prevent the entrance of dustparticles and the like into the journal box 14. For this purpose a rearor outer lip 25 and a front or inner lip 26 are formed integrally withthe body portion 21 and are arranged to extend radially inwardlytherefrom. The inner lip 26 is offset slightly from the body portion 21and away from the journal box 14 while the outer lip 25 is furtheroffset from the body portion 21 and further away from the journal box14. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 the lips 25 and 26, in normal operation,are arranged to extend in opposite directions with the surfaces thereofadjacent the respective distal edges 27 and 28 in engagement with thesurface of the seat 11. Notches 29, preferably two in number, FIGS. 4and 5, are provided in the front or inner lip 26 in which small amountsof lubricant are collected which flow therefrom into space 30 betweenthe lips 25 and 26 and underneath the surfaces adjacent the distal edges27 and 28 to provide a layer of lubricant between them and the surfaceof the seat 11 to minimize wear of the lips 25 and 26.

With a view to holding the front or inner lip 26 in juxtaposition to thesurface of the seat 11, a backup rib 32 is formed integrally with thebody portion 21 of the dust guard 20, is offset slightly from the bodyportion 21, and is nearer to the journal box 14 than the inner lip 26.In normal operation, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the distal edge of thebackup rib 32 overlies the adjacent outer surface of the front or innerlip 26. Since the distal edge of the backup rib 32 is separate from thedistal edge 28 of the inner lip 26, the latter can follow the contour ofthe seat 11 and move toward it independently of the backup rib 32.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship of the lips 25 and 26 when the railway caraxle 10 is inserted in the direction indicated by arrow 33 into thejournal box 14. Here it will be observed that the rear or outer lip 25is moved into underlying relation with respect to the front or inner lip26. Due. to the fact that the outer lip 25 is offset from the bodyportion 21, there is provided at its base a section 34 that is eccentricwith respect to or is offset from the body portion 21. The outer fibersin the section 34 are additionally tensioned when the railway car axle10 is inserted and the outer lip 25 is moved to the position where itunderlies the inner lip 26. However, as soon as the seat 11 begins torotate, due to the provision of the eccentric of oflset section 34 atthe base of the rear or outer lip 25 which is offset from the bodyportion 21 and as a result of the added tension in the outer fibers ofthe eccentric or offset section 34 due to the looped configuration ofthe rear or outer lip 25, it tends to right itself and to shift oncontinued rotation of the seat 11 from the position shown in FIG. 6 tothe normal operating position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

In FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings another embodiment of this inventionis shown. Here the reference character 110 designates, generally, arailway car axle which is provided with a seat 111 between the wheelside 112 and theaxle journal 113. A corner journal fillet 114interconnects the surface of the axle journal 113 with the surface ofthe seat 111 and a fillet 115 interconnects the surface of the seat 111with the wheel side 112 of the axle 110. The axle journal 113, as isconventional, is positioned in a journal box that is indicated,generally, at 116. The journal box 116 includes an outstanding section117 in which a dust guard well 118 is located having parallel faces 119.

According to this invention a dust guard and oil seal,

shown generally at 122, is positioned in the dust guard well 118. Thedust guard and oil seal 122 is formed of one piece flexible rubberlikematerial such as nitrile elastomer. It includes a peripheral portion123, a web portion 124 that extends radially inwardly therefrom and asealing portion 125 that extends radially inwardly from the web portion124. The sealing portion is arranged to engage the surface of the seat111.

The dust guard and oil seal 122, while of one piece construction, isformed generally of two sections. One of these sections is a U-shapedlower section that is indicated, generally, at 126 and it includesflanges 127 and 128 that are shown more clearly in FIG. 15. When thedust guard and oil seal 122 is inserted in the dust guard well 118, theflanges 127 and 128 are turned upwardly as seen in FIGS. 9 and 10 andsealing contact engagement with the juxtaposed parallel faces 119 of thedust guard well 118 is provided by longitudinally extending ribs 129.The upper ends 130 and 131 of arms 132 and 133, which form the U-shapedlower section 126, are joined by the second or top section 134 of thedust guard and oil seal 122. As shown more clearly in FIG. 14, the topsection 134 includes flanges 135 and 136 with the latter being somewhatwider than the former. Longitudinally extending ribs 137 are formedintegrally on the under sides of the flanges 135 and 136 which, as shownin FIGS. 9 and 10, extend upwardly in the dust guard well 118 with thelongitudinally extending ribs 137 providing a sealing engagement withthe juxtaposed parallel faces 119. As shown in FIGS. 7, 11 and 16 thetop section 134 is bowed upwardly centrally at 138. The arrangement issuch that, as the axis of rotation 139 of the railway car axle 110shifts laterally toward one or the other side of the journal box 116,there is a tendency for the dust guard and oil seal 122 to rotate aboutone or the other of the upper ends 130 or 131 on engagement with thejuxtaposed surface of the dust guard well 118. As will appearhereinafter, provision is made for stiffening the relatively flexibledust guard and oil seal 122 to accommodate this transverse movement ofthe axle 110 with respect to the journal box 116.

The sealing portion 125, FIGS. 14 and 15, includes a major sealing lip141 which is located in engagement with the surface of the seat 111 andadjacent the wheel side 112 of the axle 110 with respect to the webportion 124. The major sealing lip 141 has a beveled edge 142 to providea relatively wide area of contact engagement with the surface of theseat 111. A relatively large cross section groove 143 extends along themajor sealing lip 141 and constitutes a reservoir for lubricant thatflows over the surface of the seat 111 from the journal box 116. Thesealing portion 125 also includes an annular minor sealing lip 144 whichhas a feather edge 145 for engaging the surface of the seat 111. Theminor sealing lip 144 is located on the side of the plane of the webportion 124 opposite the location of the annular major sealing lip 141.A relatively small cross section groove 146 extends along the minorsealing lip 144 into which lubricant can flow through notches 147, FIG.16, which are located at diametrically opposite upper and lowerpositions in the minor sealing lip 144. It will be understood that thelubricant which is picked up by the axle journal 113 from the supplythereof in the journal box 116 flows over the surface of the seat 111and through the notches 147 into the small cross section groove 146 andthence into the large cross section groove 143. The annular majorsealing 11p 141 not only serves to retain the lubricant in the groove143 but also it prevents the entrance of extraneous material into thejournal box 116.

Between the annular major and minor sealing lips 141 and 144 there is anannular bumping portion 148 that is formed integrally with the sealingportion 125. It has an annular bumping surface 149 that is concentricwith the surface of the seat 111 and is spaced slightly therefrom. Thebumplng portion 148 serves to transmit transverse "movement of the axle110 to the dust guard and oil seal 122.

The dust guard and oil seal 122, thus far described, is satisfactory forpreventing egress of lubricant and ingress of dust, etc., from and tothe journal box 116 and to accommodate endwise or axial movement of theaxle 110 into and out of the journal box 116. As pointed out sometransverse movement of the axle 110 takes place. The extent of thismovement varies, depending upon whether or not the journal box 116 isprovided with journal stops. Since the dust guard and oil seal 122 isformed of rubberlike material, when the relative transverse movement ofthe axle 110 takes place, there is a tendency for the surface of theseat 111 to separate from the margins of the sealing lips 141 and 144.In order to minimize this separation an annular stiffening member, showngenerally at 152 in FIGS. 9, and 17, is provided. It is formed ofrelatively rigid material such as high density polyethylene. As shown inFIG. 18 the annular stiffening member 152 is channel shaped and includesa web 153 and side flanges 154. The annular stiffening member 152 ispositioned on the side of the web portion 124 from which the minorsealing lip 144 extends with the outer surface of the web 152 juxtaposedto the surface of the web portion 124. The stiffening member 152 is heldin position by plug and socket means which comprises plugs 156, FIGS. 14and 15, that are formed integrally with the web portion 124 of the dustguard and oil seal 122. Each plug 156 includes a tapered head portion157 and a neck portion 158. The socket means comprises openings 159 inthe web 153 of the stiffening member 152. As shown in FIG. 14, after thetapered head portion 157 has been forced through the respective socketopening 159, the latter encompasses the neck portion 158 and thus issecurely held in position.

The dust guard and oil seal 122 constructed as described herein and withthe annular stiffening member 152 in position is inserted through thetop of the dust guard well 118 to the position shown in FIG. 10 in theabsence of the railway car axle 110. Here it will be observed that theflanges 127 and 128 on the U-shaped lower sections 126 are deformedupwardly and likewise the flanges 135 and 136 on the top section 134 aredeformed upwardly with the respective longitudinally extending ribs 129and 137 engaging the juxtaposed parallel faces 119. Afterward therailway car axle 110 is inserted with the axle journal 113 beingpositioned in the journal box 116 and the seat 111 engaging the marginalportion of the sealing lip 144 as shown in FIG. 9 while the marginalportion of the sealing lip 141 is turned under in the manner shown inFIG. 6 for the lip 25. On rotation of the axle 110 and seat 111, thesealing lip 141 rights itself and the marginal portion thereof engagesthe seat 111 as shown in FIG. 9.

In FIGS. 19-25 there is disclosed another embodiment of this invention.There is illustrated, generally, at 160 a dust guard and oil seal whichcan be inserted in the dust guard well 118 of the journal box 116 inlieu of the dust guard and oil seal 122 previously described. The dustguard and oil seal 160 includes a peripheral portion 161 that is formedof one piece rubberlike material such as nitrile elastomer. It includesa web portion 162 that is arranged to be centrally located in the dustguard well 118.- The web 162 along its inner part has a sealing portionthat is indicated, generally, at 163 for overlying the seat 111 of theaxle 110. The peripheral portion 161 comprises a U'shaped lower sectionwhich is indicated, generally, at 164 and it is provided, as shown inFIG. 22, with laterally extending flanges 165 and 166 which havelongitudinally extending ribs 167 for frictionally engaging the parallelfaces 117 of the dust guard well 118 as illustrated in FIG. 24. Theperipheral portion 161 also includes a top section that is indicated,generally, at 168 in FIGS. 19 and 20 and it has laterally extendingflanges 169 and 170 which are provided with longitudinally extendingribs 171 and 172 as shown more clearly in FIG. 21. They are arranged tofrictionally engage the parallel faces 119 of the dust guard well 118 inthe manner illustrated for the dust guard and oil seal 122 in FIG. 10.The laterally extending flange 170 has arcuate corner sections one ofwhich is shown at 172 in FIG. 25 for insuring more complete frictionalengagement with the juxtaposed face 119 of the dust guard well 118.

The web portion 162 has an integral annular bumping portion 173, FIGS.20, 21 and 22, which is provided with a bumping surface 174 that isspaced slightly from the seat 111. The purpose of the bumping portion173 is to effect movement of the peripheral portion 161 of the dustguard and oil seal 160 relative to the dust guard well 118 oncorresponding relative movement of the seat 111 and the journal box 116.

With a view to preventing the ingress of foreign material to the journalbox 116 an annular sealing lip 176 is provided. It is offset toward thewheel side 112 from the web portion 162 and is formed integrally with abase portion 177 that is formed integrally with the inner side of theweb 162 as shown more clearly in FIGS. 21 and 22. Between the bumpingportion 173 and the annular sealing lip 176 there is provided a flatbottom groove 178 in which lubricant from the journal box 116 is trappedand from which it can flow over the inner surface of the sealing lip 176to lubricate the same where it engages the seat 111.

As in the embodiments of this invention previously described the offsetor eccentric positioning of the annular sealing lip 176 with respect tothe web 162 is important. When the seat 111 is moved in the directionindicated by arrow 179, FIG. 24, through the dust guard and oil seal 160the distal edge 180 of the sealing lip 176 is moved to underlie the baseportion 177 and to overlie the groove 178. The extreme edge isjuxtaposed to the annular bumping portion 173 as here illustrated. Whenso positioned the fibers in the outer section 181 which is eccentric oroffset from the web portion 162 are tensioned to such an extent that,when the seat 111 ultimately rotates relative to the journal box 116,the action is such as to cause the sealing lip 116 to move to theposition shown by broken lines in FIG. 24 with the distal edge 180 thenextending into engagement with the seat 111 and in a direction away fromthe bumping portion 173.

It is desirable to reenforce the peripheral portion 161 of the dustguard and oil seal 160. There is provided a reenforcing member that isindicated, generally, at 182 in FIG. 23. The reenforcing member 182 orstiffener is of annular platelike configuration and may be formed ofplastic material such as nylon. Other similar material can be employedas long as it is sufliciently rigid. The reenforcing member 182 hasseveral apertures 183 extending traversely therethrough. The dust guardand oil seal 160 is formed by locating the reenforcing member 182 in asuitable mold and then filling the mold with the nitrile elastomer sothat this material generally surrounds the reenforcing member 182 and,as indicated at 184 in FIGS. 22 and 24, it flows through the apertures183 in order to essentially integrally bond the reenforcing member 182to the peripheral portion 161. At certain of the apertures 183 thickenedmolded portions 185 are formed in this process. Also, as shown in FIG.21, a beveled lip portion 186 is formed as a part of the moldingoperation to overlie the reenforcing member 182. As illustrated in FIG.25 end portions of the top section 168 are molded as indicated at 187over the underlying end 188 of the reenforcing member 182. Thisconstruction provides a relatively rigid dust guard and oil seal 160which not only will maintain sealing contact engagement with theparallel faces 119 of the dust guard Well 118 but also will follow thelateral movement of the seat 111 relative to the journal box 116 tomaintain the annular sealing lip 17 6 in engagement therewith.

In order to provide for the shifting of the sealing lip 176 from itsposition shown by full lines in FIG. 24 to the running position shown bybroken lines, its thickness tapers from its junction with the baseportion 177 to the distal edge 180. The base portion extends normal tothe web 162 and has a radial thickness that is greater than the axialthickness of the web 162 excluding the relatively minor thickened moldedportions 185. The cantilever mounting of the sealing lip 176 and itsattachment to the base portion 177 offset from the web 162 is materialto the action of the sealing lip 176 in righting itself.

What is claimed as new is:

1. For combination with a railway car journal box having a dust guardwell and a railway car axle in said journal box having a seat extendingtransversely of said dust guard well, a dust guard for positioning insaid dust guard well comprising:

a body portion of flexible material having integral laterally extendingannular flange means for frictionally engaging the juxtaposed'walls ofsaid dust guard well,

a pair of laterally spaced sealing lips integral with said body portionfor engaging said seat, the lip nearer said journal box being an innerlip and the other lipbeing an outer lip,

said lips in normal operation with said seat adapted to extendtherealong in opposite directions, and

a backup rib integral with said body portion and adapted to overlie thedistal portion of said inner lip in normal operation to hold the same injuxtaposition to said seat, said backup rib being spaced laterally fromsaid inner lip toward said journal box and having its distal portionseparate from said inner lip whereby said inner lip is movable towardsaid seat independently of said backup rib.

2. The dust guard claimed in claim 1 wherein a reenforcing memberextends through the body portion.

3. The dust guard claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner lip is notchedalong its periphery to facilitate flow of lubricant into the spacebetween the lips and between their distal edges and the seat on theaxle.

4. The dust guard claimed in claim 1 wherein the base of the outer lipis axially offset along the axis of rotation of the axle with'respect tothe body portion whereby on application of the axle to the journal boxthrough the dust guard said outer lip is moved to underlie the inner lipand overlie the seat thereby tensioning the outer portion of said outerlip intermediate its base and distal portion and whereby on subsequentrotation of said axle and seat the tensioned outer portion of said outerlip causes the same to move away from said inner lip to normal operatingposition.

5. For combination with a railway car journal box having a dust guardwell and a railway car axle in said journal box having a seat extendingtransversely of said dust guard well, a dust guard and oil seal forpositioning in said dust guard well and around said seat comprising aperipheral portion of flexible rubberlike material having integrallaterally extending flange means for fi'ictionally engaging thejuxtaposed walls of said dust guard well, a web portion integral withsaid peripheral portion and extending radially inwardly therefrom, and asealing portion integral with said web portion and extending radiallyinwardly therefrom, said sealing portion including a major sealing lipoffset to one side of the plane of said web portion for engaging saidseat,

a minor sealing lip offset to the other side of said plane of said webportion a lesser distance than said major sealing lip for engaging saidseat,

a relatively small cross section groove along said major sealing lip, V

a relatively small cross section groove along said m nor seal ng l p,and

at least one notch in said minor sealing lip to facilitate flow oflubricant into said grooves.

6. The dust guard and oil seal according to claim 5 wherein a bumpingportion is provided integral with said sealing poition between saidgrooves having a radially inwardly facing bumping surface forjuxtaposition to said seat.

7. For combination with a railway car journal box having a dust guardwell and a railway car axle in said journal box having a seat extendingtransversely of said dust guard well, a. dust guard and oil seal forpositioning in said dust guard well and around said seat comprising aperipheral portion of flexible rubberlike material having integrallaterally extending flange means for frictionally engaging thejuxtaposed walls of said dust guard well,

a web portion integral with said peripheral portion and extendingradially inwardly therefrom,

a sealing portion integral with said web portion and extending radiallyinwardly therefrom, said sealing portion including a major sealing lipoffset to one side of the plane of said web portion for engaging saidseat, and

a minor sealing lip otfset to the other side of said plane of said webportion a lesser distance than said major sealing lip for engaging saidseat,

a stiffening member of relatively rigid material as compared to saidflexible material extending along said web portion, and

plug and socket means securing said stiifening member to said webportion.

8. The dust guard and oil seal according to claim 7 wherein saidstiffening member is of annular channel shape,

said plug means is formed integrally with said Web portion and includesa tapered head portion and a neck portion adjacent said web portion, and

said socket means comprises openings in the web of said channel-shapedstilfening member adapted to be forced over said tapered head portionsand to be secured in said neck portions.

9. The dust guard and seal according to claim 8 wherein said channelshaped stiffening member is positioned on theside of said web portion onwhich said minor sealing lip is located.

10. For combination with a railway car journal box having a dust guardwell and a railway car axle in said journal box having a seat extendingtransversely of said dust guard well, a dust guard for positioning insaid dust guard well comprising:

a body portion having the part remote from said seat for locationbetween the juxtaposed walls of said dust guard Well,

a bumping portion extending radially from said body portion toward saidseat for engaging said seat to shift said body portion in response toradial movement of said seat relative to said journal box,

sealing lip means having its distal portion for engaging said seat, saidsealing lip means having a base portion integral with said body portionand axially offset along the axis of rotation of said axle with respectto said body portion on the side away from said journal box whereby, onapplication of the axle to said journal box through said dust guard,said distal portion of said sealing lip means is moved intojuxtaposition with said bumping portion to underlie said base portionand overlie said seat thereby tensioning the outer portion of saidsealing lip means intermediate its base portion and distal portion andwhereby, on subsequent rotation of said axle and seat, said tensionedouter portion of said sealing lip means causes said distal portion tomove away from underneath said base portion to normal operating positionWhere it extends away from said bumping portion, and

an annular platelike reenforcing member extending along said bodyportion and having a plurality of apertures through which portions ofsaid body portion extend and provide an integral bond to saidreenforcing member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 2,789,845 4/ 1957 Klingler277206 2,798,746 7/1957 Hoyer 277130 3,041,091 6/1962 Bayerl. 3,069,17912/1962 Johnson 277130 SAMUEL ROTHBERG, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

